West Texas A&M University communication graduate student, Tessa Davis, will perform her master’s thesis at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 27 at the Jack B. Kelley Student Center, Hazel Kelley Wilson VIP Room. She will be covering the topics of mental health, social media, and moving forward.

Davis’ performance includes her personal poetry in combination with that of others on mental illnesses that Davis has been diagnosed with. After being diagnosed with three different mental illnesses and struggling to communicate and find support, Davis was brought into peer support groups on social media that helped her understand her illnesses and start to live life again.

Davis said, “When I look over the contents of my life, some of the biggest challenges I faced had to do with my mental health. There’s a lot to be said about the impact of being diagnosed with a mental illness, and I found a way to say those things over social media and using my ability to use the beauty of words.”

Davis said that mental health is a vital part of the human condition and believes that using her story in an academic setting could shed light on the benefits of social media.

“Sometimes in academia, you’re almost encouraged to not be vulnerable with your feelings,” Davis said. “Using my personal experience paired with academic research seemed like my calling. If I can help one person not feel so alone, I’ve done the most important work of my life.”

Davis will present her thesis in narrative form using spoken word poetry. Davis said that this performance brought her back into the mindset of pain that she experienced daily before and during her diagnoses. However, her choice to create this unique performance experience using her passion led her to using this for mental health advocacy in tandem with fulfilling her master’s degree. Her experiences in the performance realm, including slam poetry performances and stand-up comedy, have prepared Davis for sharing her story and she could not be more honored to do so.

The performance is overseen by Dr. Trudy Hanson, who is directing Davis’ performance thesis, and thesis committee members Dr. Noah Franken and Prof. Paula Schlegel. The performance is open to the general public.

For additional information, contact Dr. Hanson at 806-651-2800 or by email, thanson@wtamu.edu.

-West Texas A&M University